The report states that there is 'little or no' privacy information available to parents from app vendors or in the Android Google Play and Apple iOS app stores. The Center for Digital Democracy's complaint comes on the heels of a FTC report on mobile apps for children that was published last week. However, the Center for Digital Democracy says that the app does not provide 'notice to parents or obtain prior parental consent, as required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.' Technically, COPPA only applies to children under 13 years old, so many app makers get around this issue by saying they're targeting older children. According to the New York Times, the app description said it gathered 'personal user data as well as nonpersonal user data' and 'user data collection is in accordance with applicable law, such as COPPA.'

It does not ask for a home address or phone number. Krabs.Īpparently, the game is collecting users' e-mail addresses with promises of sending them a future newsletter. SpongeBob Diner Dash is a free app marketed to children, in which popular cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants must 'seat, serve and satisfy even the squirmiest of patrons' and cater to the greedy Mr.

Nickelodeon has removed the app from the store after an advocacy group filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging the game violated children's online privacy rights by collecting their e-mail addresses without parents' permission.Īccording to the Center for Digital Democracy, which filed the complaint earlier today, cable network Nickelodeon and mobile game-maker PlayFirst are misleadingly marketing the game and are violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). SpongeBob Diner Dash was pulled from Apple's app store after a complaint was filed claiming it violated children's online privacy.Īnyone wanting to download the SpongeBob Diner Dash game from Apple's iTunes app store today is out of luck.

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